Chopping block: Gut state funding for Planned Parenthood

In the spirit of today’s belt-tightening budget in the House, our Chopping Block features a family planning group that has been caught in the cross-hairs of state budget debates across the country.

A reader simply wrote: “Defund Planned Parenthood”

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That’s easier said than done — particularly since no part of the Texas budget funds the state’s family planning organizations.

Instead, Planned Parenthood and similar groups rely on federal funds to provide services primarily to low-income women and children. But the state Legislature still decides where to allocate the funds from Washington.

Three titles in particular comprise funding for these state-based groups.

In the Social Security Act, Title 5 is a maternal and child health grant and Title 20 is a family planning block grant. State lawmakers usually allocate funds from both titles to various departments and projects in the Department of State Health Services.

Last year, Title 5 allowed 49,200 women to receive family planning services, while Title 20 helped nearly 190,000 Texans, according to the Women’s Health and Family Planning Association of Texas.

Title 10 of the Public Health Services Act is the only dedicated family planning funding stream for low-income, uninsured women. That means states that do not reject Title 10 funding — like Texas — can only use the money for family planning services.

From the three grants, Texas received more than $50 million in 2010.

In that year, Texas family planning clinics saw more than 250,000 men and women for everything from HIV/AIDS testing to breast cancer and diabetes screenings.